(Image Courtesy of Simply Mac )

It’s a new day and age we live in with dating online with the information age. As if dating was not hard enough with just meeting Joe down the street, now a person has many more possibilities with getting connected with people who are hundreds or even thousands of miles from you. While navigating this brave new age, here are a few useful tips and warnings about what to look out for in dating online and the benefits and downfalls of dating in the information age.

It was only a decade ago, in the early days of the internet that internet dating was looked upon as just done by those who could not find a date by more traditional methods. Now, many more couples are finding their significant other through the internet, or through dating apps. Now it has become more common and accepted to have met someone in this manner. It’s a smorgasbord of people online, but where does one start and how does one create a profile? Which website to use? Many different internet companies have created sites designed for different niches be it a casual hook-up, serious dating, dating from a certain background or type or looking for a marriage proposal. Some sites are free, and others require a monthly fee for the use of their services.

A positive is it seems like there are many profiles of others looking to meet and see if there is a spark, but depending on the website, many people do not respond to their messages. If there is a spark, it’s advised to meet in person and taking it offline as soon as possible as our brain naturally fills in the blank about this seemingly perfect person based on their profile and expectations are bound to be disappointed the longer we wait to meet them in actuality. A definite negative is people often purposefully misrepresent themselves in their online photos or descriptions to generate interest. Women tend to post pictures of their younger selves, and men tend to lie about their financial situation.

Technology can be a barrier to meaningful interaction, but it can also bring families together. How often do we see people at a restaurant on their smart devices instead of engaging with the person directly across from them? However, they may be on their device on a dating app looking for love so while not connecting with people in person, you are connecting with someone through the interwebs.

Tinder started out as a casual hook-up app but now it’s just another means to meet others. It started in the USA and now is worldwide in 50 different languages. You swipe left if you don’t like what you see and you swipe right if you do. The ultimate superficial dating app! It boasts of processing over one billion swipes per day , producing about twelve million matches per day.

Although, it’s important to admit that sometimes, in particular with rather visual-based dating apps like Tinder, that relationships can be somewhat fraught later on. If you happen to have met someone on Tinder, make sure the foundations of your relationship are especially solid, and that you’re together for the right reasons. If you do find yourself with plenty of grief over the state of a relationship built this way, it’s important that you find out how to improve your relationship for the better.

In conclusion, it can certainly be hard connecting with someone meaningfully through typed words or messages. However, as this is the first generation to be guinea pigs in a fashion for this new technology, it has become only another means for people to get connected and will most likely improve with time. A worldwide connected world and that is pretty amazing!